Pliers.



F. E. CULVER'.

f PLIERS. AYPLI'oA'rIoH FILED JULY 51912.

1 .1061,358. Patented May 13, 1913.

ZVWHZZ Mw/z menton Attorneys Vso FORESTI` E. CULViER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

T 0 all whom, "it may concern 'Be it known that I, Foues'r E. CULvEu, a lcitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have inventednew and useful Plieis, of which the folli'iwing is a specification.

The'present invention .relates to ment in pliers, the primary object of, the invention being the provision of a novel form of ratchet locking and releasingdevice dispos'ed between and carried by the' respective gripping handles of the pliers, the movable member being held i'esiliently i i ratchet engaging position and capable of 4a/longtiidinal swinging movement, whereby no strain is placed upon the gripping jaws of the pliers that would tend to twist or bleak the object held in the jaws, either-during the locking or releasing of the pliers/ -\\'ith the foiegoing and otl"'-r objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resid/es in the coinbination and arrangement of parts and in thedetails of constructionfhereinafter de` scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosedinay be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention l In the drawings Figure 1 is a side e evation of the needle holding pliers constructed according to and embodying the present invention, the handles being in locked position: Fig. 2 is a longitudinal .sectional View through the handles of the pliersshowing the present invention applied. Figf is an enlarged detail view of the handle adjacent to the portion carrying the pivoted member of the ratchet locking device. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of such pivoted member. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the spring for controlling the pivoted member. Fig. (3

is a detail View ofthe free end of the main' handle Separating spring. A v

Referring to the drawings, the numerals 1 and 2 designate the gripping handles of the pliers which are pivoted as usual at 3, and are provided with the object gripping jaws 4 and 4 res ectively. Y The ha integral and spaced ugs 5 having dispose therebetween the pin 6 having the strai '-ht wall 6', as clearly shown in Fig. 2. 'lgfh pivotedmember 7 of theratcl iet locking device is providedvwithi a slot 8 having the improvey le-.IZ' is-'rovided with thetivoI Specicati-on ot' Letters Patent. Application filed July 5, 1,9712. 4Serial No. 707,816.

Paeenfeiiiiiay 13, 191 3.

seatS furthe reception ofthe curved .portion of the pin (3, the 'throat I8" leading therefrom to permit of the ready introduction of the pivotcd member 7 between the lugs 5 to bcvseated upon and pivot/ed by the pin 6. The pivoting end of the member 7 is (iattened as at 9, while the oiiter end is provided with the hooked terminal 10 and with the oset curved guiding portion 10 upon one side thereof. disposed between the lugs 5, the pin 12 se-II curing one end 'thereof -to the `handle 2, while the free end is disposed for sliding movement to engage the handle 2 at 13, the

intermediate portion of the sprii'ig 11 beiugplaced in engagement with thel flattened poi ion J of the pivoted loeleing member 7, so as to provide a' resilient' eu'sliion for the )live-ted member 7 vand topermit the salmo to A flat spring 1l is' nave its free ci'id moved longitudinally, of the A handle 12,r and to normally 'be held in one position. The stationary locking lmember 14 is threaded at 15 to the handle-1 and is provided with the elliptical pointed'end4 16 which is disposed in the pathto permit of theratchet teeth 17 to engage or co-aet with the-hook 1() of the free end of the pivoted member 7, theI curved portion 18` acting as a guide to guide the free end 10 downwardly, with the movement of the handle 2 toward the -handle- 1, while'the 'c urvcd portion 19 acts as a guiding-means to engage the otlsct portion 10 of the member 7 when the hook 10 has been moved beyond the last tooth 17 above and over the upper curved port-ion 19 of t-he free end of the stationary member 1,4.

In the movement of the hooked end 10 in engagement with the respective teeth 17, the action of the teeth thereupon will cause the end l0 to be depressed longitudinally of the pliers so that when the hooked end l() is .moved beyond the last tooth 17, the tension ing disposed within the slot 22 and eoacting with the roller 24 to limit; the full ex`- tension of the handles 1 and 2.v Y

From the foregoing description, taken in jaws 4 4 in needle gripping position, and l that to release the gripping ends,the4 handles will be further pushed toward each .other until the offset portion 10is'beyond the last tooth, at which time the sprin 11 exerting a.tension upon the free end'o the member 7 will move the saine so Athat the offset 10 will ride upon the curvedportion 19. Thehandles now beinfr under the tension of the spring 20 will he automatically separated. By mounting the pivoted inember 7 for longitudinal swinging movement instead of horizontal swinging movement, no torsion is thrown upon the grippin ends 4 and 4 and the liability to breat the gripped object held between the jaws is lessened.

What is claimed is:

l. Pliers, having two spring extended handles, a stationary stud carried by one handle intermediate of its ends, the free end of said stud being provided with an offsetprojection having a plurality of ratchet teeth upon one side and a curved portion upon the opposite side, two spaced lugs carried by the other handle, a pin having a. flattened outer face mounted in the two lugs, a trigger having a slotted head upon its in` ner end for disposition between the lugs, the slot tilting upon` the pin and forming a pivot for the trigger, said trigger having a hook with an ofl'set portionupoii its` outer free end, and a flat spring between the spaced lugs and bearing against the adjacent porliold the free end of the trigger for registration with the free end of the stud when the handles are depressed, the depression of the handles and the meet-ing ofv the free ends of the arm and stud causing the hook of thetrigger to be moved into engagement with the ratchet teeth, a

.40 tion of the head of the trigger to resiliently i against the spring and l further depression of the handles causes the f' hook of the triggerto be moved beyond and free of the ratchet teeth while the spring of the handle separates theV handles and .jt-he trigger spring causincr the ofi'sethook ofirthe trigger to rise and rite upon the curved portion of the offset 'of the stud.

2. A'pliers having two handles, means car ried by' the handles for locking the same when moved toward each other and to be reas my own, I have hereto laffixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

A FOREST E. CULVER Witnesses:

LEO N. ALT, FRANK J. McCann. 

